rec.autos.simulators

I'm getting tired of green Sears.

Also, I looked at the driving lesson today for Sears Point.....they have the
turns numbered wrong.  They call Turn 2....."Turn 1a".....then have it
messed up all the way to T7.  Oh well, Darryl never was much of a road
course driver himself....but he always had fun on them.

If somebody finds the "key" to the dat unpack for N2002....I will change the
grass to "straw"...remove the red in the evergreen trees, paint the
buildings the correct color and trim, remove the old Media Center building
which is no longer there (removed 4 years ago), fix the square tires
(walls), move the "gas pump" back to where it belongs and fix all the
incorrect signage (about 40% of them are wrong), remove the Goodyear
footbridge (its gone), remove the main straight grandstand on track right
(they are gone), and put the correct new grandstand on track left (borrowed
from some other track for now)......and put this up somewhere on the net
where all can download it.

TP

Tom

I unpacked the sound.dat yesterday, I think I used DatX and it worked
without a prob. I didn't try to re-pack it though (I want the modified files
to remain clearly visible).

Achim

Thanks for the heads-up Tom. I tried SP for the first time (in 2002) last
night and used the line for all of my 10-12 laps once I realized what they
had changed out near T6 I think, where they have squared up that old
sweeping right hander (??). I think that is a neat way to help learn the
track.

After reading your post, it did seem kind of off that everything was so
green. I live in NC, but I watch SP races on the tube and I must admit, my
mind's eye wants to tell me it always seems to have a brownish, earth toney
kind of color to it. As for the buildings and such, I must also admit, I
have no idea how they look so I don't find ithem distracting.

Whats a 'decent' time range for a lap in NR2002 going to be? It seems to me
that extra hard right they have added adds some time to the ones we turned
in N4. If I had to guess I would say maybe low 1:20's? Lower? All I could
muster in 12 laps of running with the <fast> setup last night was 1:23.4,
uggh, that's 3 offs and 1 brake lock. :) Probably going to take a 1:18 or
:19 to take the poll there if we race it this season (online).

All I can say about the track in the sim is: The sand is TERRIBLE!(in a good
way) It takes nearly a 4x4 to get out now. The grass isn't as slick, which
is the case at every track I have been to in N2002..The cars feel like they
have a TON more HP at the roadies, really have to ease into the gas to keep
straight, course that might be my 100% linearity at fault. For better or
worse, power sliding with the new tire model is easier at the roadies, call
it 'steering with the throttle' if you will. The 'dragstrip' portion of the
track feels really 'loose' to me, maybe because it is a long lazy turn,
maybe because there are 2 (I think) NHRA events there each year, who knows?
The tire walls can tear up a car pretty good in realistic damage mode.
Lastly, the fence beyond the corner at the new right hander needs a soft
wall or something. The unsuspecting rookie or the vet with brake troubles
will find himself in a *** head-on if they miss that corner...

Anyway TP, I'd use the updated graphics if you put 'em out,

sr

I saw a small bit of a taped recording of last year's Sears Pt race in
the middle of a tire run, and the drivers appeared to be putting in
laptimes
around 1:18 - 1:19.
With the default <fast> setup, I can hit high 1:18's & low 1:19's, but
that is pushing it. I've done low 1:18's with custom race setups. I
expect
the really ace drivers to be 1-2 seconds faster than that. The lap in
the
tutorial was done with the <fast> setup, and I think it was a mid 19. I
ran a carwidth wide on the second to last turn (I prefer to clip the
grass),
probably cost a couple of tenths :)

Grant.

TP

It seems that r.a.s. is a place you post about "the negative".......and not
the positive.  I have been guilty of this as much as anyone.  I think maybe
we tend to discuss what we don't like......in my case, because its less
volume and easier to list than all the things we do like.....about a sim or
track or whatever.  Sorry.....I'm guilty.....you are right about that.

I just tried to look up last year's pole time at Sears (since its the new
config)......but couldn't find it easily (at NASCAR.com).....if my memory
serves me, it was something of a mid 1:18 or 1:19....not completely sure
about this.  I do remember it was Gordon, though.

I've not run any serious setup laps or "race work" laps at the new N2002
Sears.  I like my road car setups in NASCAR-X to be stiff and slide....and
Papy's default setups are usually quite the opposite.  So....it takes me a
long time to get up to speed on Watkins and Sears (and Pocono,
Phoenix....the other "rovals" as Darryl calls them).  I do agree (with the
limited seat time I have so far....about a 100 laps) that the new tire
wear/physics seems more accurate than in N4.  Using "easy" I've managed a
1:22.5 (ish)...and can run consistently around 1:23.5 (ish) laps.  Not sure
how the tire wear is at these levels, however....that's TBD as yet.  I would
think being capable of running anything near the real-life times at Sears
would be quite good.....your times are excellent in that light.  As far as
what the "aliens" end up running at Sears....I would expect it to be lap
times slightly under real-life times (if for no other reason than we can put
in so much more seat time and setup development than the real teams can ever
hope to do).....if the Papy physics model is anywhere near accurate to
real-life Cup car performance (and I am suspicious that it is).

By the way, the Turn 7 track config on the N2002 Sears track is not correct.
The one Papy used is the one that was in the engineer's drawings of the
track....up until about two weeks before it was actually constructed.  A
last minute change was made.....and Papy didn't get the new drawings
apparently (or didn't notice it).  So, when you watch Sears this year on
TV....Turn 7 is not going to look like it does in N2002.  However, its not a
dramatic difference...and doesn't really change the "feel" of racing at
Sears...IMHO.

By the way, since we are going to be a "tenant" at Sears (starting this
April).....we will be allowed out on the track every Friday for testing.  We
are going to purchase a "Friday play-car" for this purpose.  I'll be able to
give you guys a much more accurate opinion/info of the Papy track when I can
get some seat time in on the real one.....in the new config.  Also, George
Sandman.....who most of you should know from his GPL prowess.....who does
setup work for us......will be getting his racing license this year and
doing some Friday fun runs with us too.  George will be able to give you
guys some good pointers I'm sure....after he gathers in some real-track seat
time.  George is a "wizard" behind the sim wheel....as most of you know.  I
can't wait to see him perform on a real race track.  He and I are going to
take a Russell School together in preparation for him getting his racing
license....I try to pick George's brain when ever I can......he's really
fast (and rarely bends the equipment).  I'll post pics here when we have
them.

Tom

you must have made a mistake. DatX works with track.dat files as well, I
just tried it. Try it again.

Achim

just read about Papybmp.exe elsewhere in here - it's available at the US
Pits and does not only extract mips and other stuff from the track.dats, it
also converts their file format (to bmp and back).

Achim

"Tom Pabst"
   Cue Metallica.....
        Enter the Sandman

dave henrie